COIN Models Operating Nationally

The Civic Opportunities Initiative Network (COIN)

Expanding Educational Opportunity & Building Community

The COIN Framework

The COIN program is a national education, leadership and community development program at the high school and college level in poor communities. It encompasses programs that tie individual opportunity for minority youth to community renewal and resilience.

Through leadership training, educational achievement, college access, and long-term skill development, COIN hopes to seed a new generation of local leaders that are committed to re-weaving and strengthening their home communal fabric.

The COIN model is adaptive to the particulars of local challenges and opportunities. It leverages local assets, resources, capacity, infrastructure, and capitalizes on existing programs, to build a community-focused agenda “in place.”

The distinct framework is built on the potential of emerging leaders to contribute to community life with support from a network of local institutions:

Community-based organizations

Colleges and universities

Philanthropic institutions

Government agencies

Schools

Key COIN Components—Customized in Locality:

Guaranteed Access to Higher Education

A one-to-one student-to-adult mentoring ratio in school or corollary education activity

Leadership advancement/civic training based on field-based internships in local neighborhoods